Half of Americans turning age 65 today will at some point need a high level of help with daily ac­tivities like walking, eating and bathing. What happens when older adults need more support than loved ones can provide?

PACE® is the gold standard of person-centered, integrated care for elders who need support and services to remain in their homes.

By Amy Herr and Amy Berman

After Phyllis Benning, 66, suffered several strokes that left her unable to walk, she thought she might spend the rest of her life in a nursing home. She was able return to her home—and walk again—with the help of a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE®) that provided access to safe, comprehensive, and coordinated medical and social services in her community.

Substance use, most recently the opioid epi­demic, is hurting America’s families and often placing greater responsibility upon grandparents to care for their grandchildren. Increasingly, child welfare systems, as they face shortages of foster parents to meet a growing need, are loo­­k­ing to grandparents and other relatives to care for children who have entered foster care due to parental drug and alcohol use.

Caregiving is a challenge for many Americans, but what does it take to be a 21st century caregiver as an older adult?

Caregiving is a challenge for many Americans, but what does it take to be a 21st century caregiver as an older adult? How do such caregivers get by, what resources are available to them, and what solutions and supports may be on the horizon to help?

How might the coming nexus of aging and diversity affect entitlement programs, the social safety net and geopolitical priorities? Will it give us intergenerational and interethnic tensions, or lead to new coalitions based on need rather than age, income and race?

By Juan Fernando Torres-Gil

By 2050, the United States will be both much older and majority-minority. The nexus of these two trends will lead to a shifting political landscape for aging, which may mean more com­petition based on age and ethnicity/race or coalitions of advocacy groups based on need.